Machine and method for processing webs of paper base and similar materials



1957 E. A. CRAWFORD 2,809, 82

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 1 v N INVENTOR Q EARL Amman 502w BVWW (4 Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS 1'? Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1953 INVENTOR EARL ACRAWFORD Arr'k 1957 E. A/CRAWFORD 2,809,582

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENI'OR EARL A. CRAWFORD ATTK Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD ,5

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29. 1953 17 SheetsSheet 4 Wye/W09 EARL ACRAWF RD ,0

Oct. 15, 1957 cRAWFORD 2,809,582

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR EARL ACRAWFOR A rT'x Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD 2,309,532

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR EARL ACRAW/lO/f? Oct. 15, 1957 E. AJCRAWFORD 2,309,532

MACHINE AND METi-IOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet '7 Q g :1 t llIa-o 0 H l o l 1 g 4 l 1 8 Q Ii N w l l 1 IN VENTD? EARL A. CRAWFORD ATT'Y Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD 2,809,582 MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29. 1953 1''! Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR I EARL ALCRAWFORD Br7 /n MM ATTK 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROC 2,809,582 ESSING wEBs OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS 1'! Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed April 29. 1953 INVENTOR EARL ACRAWFORD WM ATTJ.

Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD 2,809,582

mcmua AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING wees OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 10 ATTV Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD 2,809,582

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29. 1953 1'? Sheets-Sheet 11 EA PL A. CPA WFORD ATTK Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 FIG/7 17 Sheets-Sheet 12 l l l I INVC'NTOR EARL A. (RAM FOR y/W? AI'TX F/a/a Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD 2,809,582 MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 13 & 3: firl r' 3 3 a 'g',

INVENTOR EARL ACRAWFORD Arr? 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD ,80

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 14 INVENTOR EARL A. CRAgO 0 ark/M Arrv 06L 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29. 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet 15 Qmv lNl/ENTOR EARL A CRAB LO? WWW ATTV Oct. 15, 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29. 1953 17 Sheets-Sheet l6 INVNTOR EARL ACRAWFOR GYM 1957 E. A. CRAWFORD 2,809,582

MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1955 17 Sheets-Sheet 1'! uvvs/vron EARL ACE/410540? BV/WW a AFT)! United States Patent MACHINE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING WEBS OF PAPER BASE AND SIMILAR MATERIALS Earl A. Crawford, Providence, R. L, assignor to Bird &

Son, inc., East Walpole, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 29, 1953, Serial No. 351,970

12 Claims. (CI. 101-181) The present invention relates to an improved machine and method for continuously feeding and for processing webbed materials.

More specifically the invention relates to a printing machine and method which is adapted for placing, in registered relation with one another, successive accurately registered impressions upon a webbed material of the general type having a limited stretch characteristic which is impregnated with asphalt or which is formed on a paper base.

The invention is herein disclosed in a preferred form as embodied in a machine and method for roller printing, coating or otherwise processing a webbed material suitable for use as floor and wall coverings, and the like which is formed from a paper base or from a web impregnated with asphalt and having a limited stretch characteristic.

In the development of a machine of the general type referred to having a plurality of roller printing units which are related to one another for the printing of recurring designs of varying shapes and colors, serious difficulties have been encountered in controlling the feed of the webbing to insure the accurate register of successively applied impressions thereon.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a machine and method for supporting and for feeding webbed material of this general description to successive printing stations in such a manner that the position of the web both lengthwise and widthwise may be accurately controlled at each printing station in turn to insure an accurate register of successive impressions upon the material.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a means and method of controlling the feed of a webbed material which may, for example, be a floor covering material having a thickness of from .04" to .06", passing continuously over a roller conveyor in such a manner as to cause the material to travel as a dead sheet without any tend ency to stretch or to weave laterally during a run of substantial length past a plurality of roller printing units.

It is a further object of the invention to combine with a conveyor system of this general description a plurality of roller printing units which are well adapted for the continuous high speed application of successive impressions to the strip material at their respective printing stations along the length of said run, the construction and arrangement of these devices being further adapted to cause the several impressions to be at all times accurately registered with one another and with the webbed material passing through the conveyor.

In carrying out the invention, a method of conveying a webbed material as a dead sheet along a substantial run past a plurality of printing units is provided, which comprises the steps of supporting the webbed material at the two ends of the run between positively driven pairs of draw-in and draw-off driving rollers, driving the drawotf rollers at a predetermined rate to draw the sheet along the length of the run, and driving the draw-in rollers,

stationed at the beginning of the run, at a slower rate which is controlled in such a manner as to produce a drag or tension of a predetermined amount, upon the webbed material passing across the run.

Specifically, in accordance with the invention the drawoir' rollers and, the rollers of each printing unit are driven at the same linear rate, while the draw-in rollers are driven at a slower rate, which is automatically adjusted to produce a retarding tension or drag which is within the elastic limit of the webbed material, but which will cause a suificient stretch of the material to take place so that the material then travels as a dead sheet along the length of the run through the printing units to the draw-off rollers.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel printing unit for use in a machine of the type herein described, in which a traveling web 12 feet more or less in width is passed in a substantially horizontal straight line through the printing unit which comprises an organization of the several printing and support rollers which will have a maximum strength and rigidity for imparting an even impression across the width of the webbed material.

It is another object of the invention to provide a printing device of this general description which is well adapted for the application of ink impressions to the upwardly facing side of the traveling strip material.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a printing unit of the general type shown a novel and improved means for supplying ink to and for scraping excess ink evenly from the gravure roller along its length across the width of the traveling web.

It is a fiirther object of the invention to provide in a machine of the general type described having a draw-in roller unit, a draw-off roller unit, and a plurality of printing units spaced therebetween for imparting successive impressions to a traveling strip of webbed material, a novel and improved means capable of manual or automatic operation for correcting the register of the individual printing units with relation to the feeding strip, and with relation to one another both laterally and longitudinally during the continuing uninterrupted operation of the machine.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a novel means well adapted for use in a machine of the type herein described for rendering the printing mechanism inoperative without at the same time interferring with the feeding of the webbed material through the machine.

The multiple unit web printing machine particularly illustrated and described as embodying in a preferred form the several features of the invention, comprises generally a series of four units having pairs of cooperating drive support and pressure rollers or cylinders through which the webbed material is passed in a straight line run. The webbed material is drawn into the machine by the draw-in unit, passes through a first printing unit with its associated drying oven, through a second printing unit with its associated drying oven, and is then finally discharged from the printing machine through a drawotf unit.

An outstanding feature of the present machine consists in the construction and arrangement of the several units to provide a straight line run of the webbed material through the printing machine which is thus well adapted to form an integral part of a continuously operating production line for the coating and finishing of webbed floor covering and similar materials. 1

Difliculties have long been experienced in controlling the feed of a web having a paper or asphalt saturated base and adapted for use as a wall or floor covering, for the reason that the material tends to be of somewhat uneven quality, does not have any great degree of tensile or tearing strength, and when mounted on a roller conveyor tends to feed unevenly and also to weave from side to side. A feature of the invention consists in the provision of means for controlling the feed of a web of this general description along the length of a substantial run in such a manner that no deviation either lengthwise or laterally of the web will be encountered along the length of the run, thus making possible the application of successive printing impressions to the face of the material in accurately registered relation to one another. Applicant has found that a carefully regulated tension or drag applied to the webbed material at the beginning of the run can be employed to stretch the material Within its elastic limit to entirely eliminate any tendency of the material to stretch or weave while passing through a series of printing units which may be two or more in number, spaced along the length of the run. In has been found further that all of the stretch introduced into the material by the tension or drag, referred to, takes place at the beginning of the run so that the web travels substantially the entire length of the run as a dead sheet.

In accordance with the invention a driving mechanism is provided which is well adapted for driving the cooperating driving support and pressure rollers in each of the draw-off units and the several printing units of the printing machine at the same linear rate while the driving support and pressure rollers of the draw-in unit tend to be driven at a slower rate so that the web is subjected to a braking tension or drag while passing through the initial draw-in unit. The mechanism provided for imposing a drag upon the feeding web at the location of the draw-in unit consists in a differential connection in the draw-in support roller drive, and a torque motor which acts through the differential connection to reduce the rate of drive of the draw-in drive support roller and thereby to exert a drag upon the feeding web. The pressure exerted through this mechanism is regulated to produce an amount of stretch in the web of floor covering material sufficient to remove substantially all stretch from the material within the elastic limit. The amount of resistance or drag imposed on the feeding strip is controlled manually through the adjustment of electrical means connected to the torque motor.

In accordance with the invention it is proposed that adjustment of the retarding tension or drag employed will be made by the operator. The adjustment is simply made by increasing the retarding tension or drag and consequent stretch gradually to a point where the material runs as a dead sheet and without exhibiting any tendency toward weaving or stretching. Experience has shown that the amount of drag required will be that required to remove substantially all of the stretch of which the material is capable but preferably without exceeding its elastic limits.

A feature of the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the several operating units to permit the simultaneous movement of each of the driving support rollers out of engagement with the cooperating pressure rollers thus to render the printing mechanism inoperative without at the same time interfering with the continued passage of the strip material through the printing machine, or interrupting the flowing of the ink to and scraping of ink from the gravure rollers.

The mechanism provided for rendering the individual driving support rollers inoperative consists, in each case, of separate cams which are controlled by solenoid actuated pneumatic cylinders. Features of the invention consist in the provision of electric control devices which may be simultaneously or individually operated in order to provide a selective control by means of which the driving suport rollers may be thrown into and out of operation as a group, and by means of which any individual support roller may be separated from the group, and may be thrown into and out of operation individually as desired.

The printing units, provided in accordance with the invention, include each a drive support roller mounted beneath the traveling web, and transfer and gravure rollers mounted above the traveling web, the arrangement of these rollers being such as to provide a rigid construction of the rollers to insure the making of an impression of even strength across the material which may run 12 feet more or less in width.

Ink is supplied by means of a novel ink supply system which is particularly adapted to furnish ink in the very large quantity required to the printing units, herein described, in which the gravure and transfer roller are mounted to print the up-turned side of the web which may be traveling at speeds up to or in excess of 400 linear feet per minute. The ink supply system includes a pan of novel and improved construction arranged to be inserted beneath the gravure roller and about the traveling web. In order to adequately ink the gravure roller which as above indicated may be traveling at high speed, a pressure system is provided by means of which ink is sprayed from a header onto the surface of the roller as it approaches the ductor blade which slopes downwardly from its line of contact with the surface of the gravure roller. The ink is drawn strongly upwardly against the underside of the ductor blade by the rapidly moving roller surface and forms a large pool of ink beneath the ductor blade. The existence of the pool of ink thus formed in combination with the pressure of ink against the gravure roller surface produced by the spray insures that all of the cells of the gravure roller surface are fully loaded with ink. The pan referred to is in the form of a shallow tray which extends beneath the gravure roller, beneath the header of the ink spray unit, and is further provided with drainage ducts of large cross sections which add substantially to the total ink storage provided by the pan. The spray unit and drainage canals referred to are connected to form an ink circulating system by means of which an excess of ink, which may be 15 times that actually used, is continuously sprayed against the rotating gravure roller.

A feature of the invention consists in an improved ductor blade assembly including devices for equalizing pressure upon the gravure roller along its length which may be 12 feet, more or less. Other features of the invention consist in the novel construction and arrangement of the roller supporting and actuating devices to provide for both lateral and longitudinal linear adjustment of the roller printing surfaces with relation to the traveling web in order to register accurately with one another the impressions made by the several printing rollers.

With the above noted and other objects in view as may hereinafter appear, several features of the invention consist also in the method, devices, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed which, together with the advantages to be obtained thereby, will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a front side view of a printing machine embodying in a preferred form several features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the printing machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the draw-in unit looking from the right hand end of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a detail view in elevation of the torque motor drive for producing a drag on the feeding web, shown in Fig. 3, looking from the front of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a view of the torque motor drive, shown in Fig. 4, looking from the left;

Fig. 6 is a. view in elevation of the draw-in unit looking from the front side of the machine, but with the torque motor, for driving the differential tensioning device, omitted;

Fig. 7 is a view in elevation of the second printing unl t looking from the front side of the machine;

Fig. 8 is a view in elevation of the draw-off unit looking from the rear side of the machine;

Fig. 9 is a view in elevation of the first printing unit looking from the right hand end of the machine;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detailed view in elevation looking from the front of the machine of the carriage associated with the first printing unit;

Fig. 11 is a view in elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 10 looking from the right;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged detailed view in elevation of the carriage associated with the first printing unit looking from the rear side of the machine;

Fig. 13 is a view in elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 10 looking from the left side of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is an enlarged detailed view showing a portion of the ductor blade assembly, including three of the control cylinders for the ductor blade, forming part of the first printing unit;

Fig. 15 is a sectional view of the ductor blade assembly, and of the inking devices forming part of the first printing unit looking from the rear side of the machine;

Fig. 16 is a somewhat diagrammatic sectional view, on a smaller scale, of the ink pan and ink circulating connections looking from the rear side of the machine;

Fig. 17 is a plan view of the inking pan and ink feeding and drainage connections shown in Figs. 15 and 16;

Fig. 18 is a view in elevation looking from the right hand end of the machine of a second printing unit;

Fig. 19 is a detail plan view of the end supporting bracket, associated with the base portion of the second printing unit, on which are mounted the manual and automatic contrals for effecting longitudinal and transverse adjustments;

Fig. 20 is a view in elevation of substantially the parts shown in Fig. 19;

Fig. 21 is a detail view in elevation looking from the front side of the machine of the two drying units associated respectively with the first and second printing units;

Fig. 22 is a sectional view of one of the units shown in Fig. 21 looking from the right hand end of the machine;

Fig. 23 is a sectional view taken on the line 23-43 of Fig. 22;

Fig. 24 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical connections for controlling the solenoid operated air valves by means of which the drive support rollers associated with the several units of the machine are moved into and out of operative position;

Fig. 25 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical connections for controlling the solenoid operated air valves for moving the ductor blade into and out of operative position;

Fig. 26 is a single line diagram of the torque motor drive for producing a drag on the web extending through the draw-in and draw-off units; and

Fig. 27 is a supplementary diagram view on the electrical controls for the torque motor.

Referring to the drawings the multiple impression printing machine herein disclosed as embodying in a preferred form the several features of the invention comprises a web draw-in unit generally designated at A in Fig. 1 having a drive support roller and a cooperating pressure roller, a first roller printing unit designated at B, an associated drying oven C, a second roller printing unit D, an associated drying oven E, and a web draw-out unit, generally indicated at F, comprising a drive support roller and a cooperating pressure draw-off roller. These units are constructed and arranged to cause a web of material to be processed, which in the preferred form of the invention is floor covering material, to pass through the several units in a straight line run.

The several operating units of the machine referred to are driven in synchronism with one another by means of a torque shaft 30 which runs along the full length of the machine at the rear side adjacent the floor level, and is connected through individual reduction gear boxes with each of the separate units. The torque shaft 30 is continuously driven from any convenient source of power which may be an electric motor not shown.

Draw-in unit The web draw-in unit A, above referred to, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 6 comprises a front standard 36, and a rear standard 38 supported on a base member 39 and rigidly connected by a spacer member 40. The standards provide support for two vertically slidable bearing blocks 42, 44 for a drive support roller 46. The standards also provide support for two bearing blocks 48, 50 (Figs. 3 and 6) for a pressure roller 52 which forms the upper roller of the pair. The drive support roller 46 is driven from the torque shaft 30 through a gear box 54, and a drive shaft 56 which extends from the rear to the front side of the machine slightly above the level of the base member 39. At its forward end the shaft 56 is provided with a bevel gear 58 which meshes with a bevel gear 60 forming the driving element of a differential gear unit generally indicated at 62, and is secured to a vertically disposed drive shaft 64 of said unit. The elements of the differential unit also include a bevel gear 66 which is secured to the shaft 64 and is connected by two idler bevel gears 68 with a driven bevel gear 70 mounted on a driven sleeve 72 in vertical alignment with the drive shaft 64. A bevel gear 74 keyed to turn with and slidable axially on the sleeve 72 meshes with a large bevel gear 76 which is mounted to turn as a unit with the drive support roller 46. A lug 79 formed integrally with bearing block 42 engages beneath and supports the bevel 74 in mesh with gear 76 for any vertical adjustment of the bearing blocks 42, 44 and driving support roller 46. The control element of the differential gear unit comprises an upwardly extending control shaft 80 which is mounted above and in axial alignment with the drive shaft 64 and which extends upwardly through an axial bore in the driven bevel gear 70 and sleeve member 72. At its lower end the shaft 80 is provided with a transverse bearing pin 82 on opposite ends of which are mounted the idler bevel gears 68 of the differential unit. With this arrangement it will be understood that rotation of the control shaft 80, causing the idler bevel gears 69 to rotate about the axes of the driving and driven bevels 66 and 70 has the effect of changing the angular relation of the driving roller 46 to the main driving connections including torque shaft 30. Thus a continuous rotation of the control shaft 80 of the differential gear unit in one direction will cause the driving roller 46 and associated pressure roller 52 to be continuously driven at a slower rate than that which would normally be imposed thereon by the main driving connections including torque shaft 30.

In accordance with the invention a torque driving motor is employed in combination with the differential driving connection above described to produce a regulated retarding tension or drag upon that portion of the webbed material, passing between the draw-in rollers 46, 52 and the draw-off rollers 152, 154. The amount of drag, which is in effect a braking force exerted on the traveling web is readily controlled by well known electrical means for adjusting the driving torque of the torque motor unit. The mechanism for producing a tensioning drag on the webbed materials specifically shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 comprises an electric torque motor 84 mounted on a bracket 86 on the front standard 36 of the draw-in unit A. The motor unit includes a transversely extending jack shaft 88 which is driven by means of reduction gearing from the armature shaft of the motor 84. A sprocket 98 on the shaft 88 is connected by a sprocket chain 92 with a sprocket 94 on a worm shaft 96 which is in turn 

